Crunch talks that could decide the fate of a “superschool” serving pupils from Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross will take place next week.
Angus Council leader David Fairweather said his local authority wanted assurances on the project before it makes any firm commitment.
Dundee City Council wants to build a supercampus at the Western Gateway that would provide primary and secondary education to more than 1,000 pupils.
Its school roll would include pupils from all three local authority areas in Tayside.
A consultation on the proposal has been taking place this summer. It is understood Angus Council has concerns that it will have little say over the running of the school even though a significant number of its pupils, if not a majority, would be Angus residents.
Independent councillor Mr Fairweather said the scale of the project was without precedent and the council had to be convinced it would be the best option for pupils before they sign up to it.
“We had a meeting with our own officers on Monday and there is another meeting arranged with the other councils this coming Monday,” he said.
“We will be looking to see where we take this proposal from here: what will it mean for Angus, and Perth and Kinross and Dundee.”
Mr Fairweather added: “We have never gone into something like this before – we are speaking about a huge project which some people will like and many others won’t.
“We have not signed up to anything.”
Lochee Labour councillor Michael Marra said he feared it would be difficult to get the three councils to agree on the venture.
He said: “Progress must be made on the issue of education for children in the Western Gateway and it must be made now.
“It is right that the evidence of the recent consultation is considered carefully. For the highly complex tri-council arrangement that has been proposed it is clear that all three councils involved will have to agree.
“I have raised concerns for a long time now as to just how difficult that will be.
“This kind of arrangement has not been tried anywhere else in Scotland before and, frankly, for good reason.
“It is incredibly difficult but any suggestion of further delays to the process of getting a school built is entirely unacceptable. People in my ward have already been waiting for years for the school they have been promised.”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The children and families service committee approved informal consultation to be carried out as part of a report proposing a collaborative approach to learning estate transformation across Tayside.
“The results of that informal consultation will be reported back to committee in due course.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokeswoman said: ““Perth and Kinross Council has previously agreed to work in collaboration with Dundee City and Angus Councils to explore the potential for a new two to 18 joint community learning campus to serve pupils from each of the local authority areas.
“Officers are continuing to work together on this project and will report progress to the council’s lifelong learning committee in due course.”
